TRANSPORT Minister John Hayes has given a commitment that Department for Transport and Highways Agency staff will work with Devon County Council and the Blackdowns AONB to build much needed improvements to the A303/A30.

Meeting with a delegation led by John Hart, Leader of Devon County Council, yesterday (Feb 24) the Minister welcomed the joint work by the County Council and AONB to develop improvement proposals that are sensitive to the special environmental importance of the area.

Councillor Hart said: “This meeting with the Minister was an important milestone in delivering vital improvements to the A303/A30 that will meet the needs of local people and businesses in the Blackdowns and ultimately create a resilient second strategic route into the South West Peninsula.

“We made good progress today thanks to the support of the Minister and Neil Parish, MP for Tiverton and Honiton.

"DfT and HA officials were supportive of the environmentally sensitive proposals that we’ve put forward and the Minister welcomed the investment Devon is making to help to get these shovel-ready.

"We want this to become a national exemplar of how strategic road improvements can be built in a way that is truly sensitive to the needs of the environment.

"The Minister was clear that it is also his aim and he gave a clear commitment that DfT and HA staff will work closely now with Devon and the Blackdowns AONB to take this forward.

“We have put forward bite-sized options for improvements to the A303/A30 through the Blackdowns in line with local public consultation responses and the Government’s commitment in the Road Investment Strategy to smaller scale improvements.

"These include overtaking lanes, improvements to junctions, visibility and softening of tight bends.

"These would allow the speed limit to be increased to 60mph and considerably improve road safety.

"We are looking forward to working with the DfT, HA and AONB to develop these ideas, firm up the costs and see what can be achieved as part of a rolling programme.”

At the meeting in Westminster, the County Council and AONB presented three options to the Minister on how to progress the smaller scale work to develop additional overtaking lanes and junction improvements.

These are:

- A £50 million relief road around the village of Monkton, which currently imposes a 40mph speed limit.

- A £90 million scheme which includes the Monkton relief road, as well as additional improvements between the top of Rawridge Hill and Stopgate Cross junction, which is likely to involve a short bypass of Newcott.

- A £120 million option, again including a Monkton relief road, but with more extensive improvements at Rawridge Hill through to the A30/A303 junction at Devonshire Inn.

This provides a longer section of continuous improvement and includes a more challenging section at Rawridge Hill.

Public consultation on a preferred route will be held in the coming financial year, with detailed designs prepared in 2019. The aim is for work to start in 2020-21, opening in 2022.

The Government announced plans for major improvements to the A303/A30/A358 corridor in the Road Investment Strategy.

It plans to carry out dualling, including tunnels, to the A303 at Stonehenge between Amesbury and Berwick Down, dualling between Sparkford and Ilchester and dualling of the A358 between Southfields and Taunton.

At the meeting, which was also attended by officers from Somerset County Council and Wiltshire Council, the Minister also agreed it was sensible to look at opportunities for early design work and environmental studies on those stretches of the whole route currently not earmarked for priority starts.